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Controlled Disbursement Account

05/15/24

For growing businesses, success often comes at a price, such as the increasing demands that growth places on the business’s operation. One such demand is managing the growing volume of checks a business must issue. Suddenly, the process of tracking check clearance and managing funding requirements becomes more complicated and time-consuming, making it more challenging to make smart decisions about your company’s cash flow. A controlled disbursement account can eliminate check clearing uncertainty by providing real-time insight into your funding needs.

What Exactly is a Controlled Disbursement Account

A controlled disbursement account is a banking service that enables businesses to review and consider their pending disbursements on a daily basis. Each day, the Federal Reserve notifies the bank of checks that have been presented for your controlled disbursement account. The bank then compiles the daily total clearing to you by 10:00 am ET, allowing you to fund your account electronically or through a wire transfer. Check images are stored for easy access.

Controlled Disbursement Account Benefits for Your Business

With this view into your controlled disbursement account, your business has the ability to consider your cash position and make timely decisions about payments and funding based on their funding accounts. Your business can know the precise amount of funds needed on a particular day, enabling you to leave your higher interest-earning accounts in place, while using your lower interest-bearing accounts for short-term payment needs. This daily insight into your accounts helps your business with daily cash forecasting and eliminates potential overdrafts.

With a Controlled Disbursement Account, your business can

  • Monitor and manage your accounts for tighter control over your cash balances and cash reserves
  • Minimize administrative resources by systematically calculating balances and reporting funding requirements
  • Improve the accuracy of cash flow forecasting
  • Optimize cash on hand for increased interest earnings
  • Reduce incidences of overdrawn balances
  • Reduce the need for short-term borrowing
  • Simplify account reconciliation and mitigate potential fraud risk

To sustain growth, businesses must be able to manage cash flow with more precision to ensure sufficient cash on hand while meeting their short-term funding requirements. But as your disbursements increase, your business can get bogged down with the complicated process of tracking check clearance and making funds available when needed. By providing you with a clear view of what exactly is occurring in your accounts, your bank’s controlled disbursement service could be the key to taking control of your cash flow to enable your business to grow.

Business - Financial Planning

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This article contains general information only. Sunflower Bank is not, by means of this article, rendering accounting, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. This article is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, before making any decisions related to these matters, you should consult a qualified professional advisor.